Electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 wants the Election Commission (EC) to give candidates contesting in the coming Sarawak elections at least three weeks to campaign, said its chairman Maria Chin Abdullah.
She said a longer period was necessary for candidates representing political parties and independents to meet voters to explain their manifestos.
"A longer campaigning period is vital because the state is as large as the peninsula and reaching voters in the interior is challenging," she told The Malaysian Insider.
Maria said this in response to Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem who indicated last week that he would propose to the Yang di-Pertua of Sarawak to dissolve the state legislative assembly in April.
The EC will then decide on nomination and polling dates.
Maria said she hoped newly appointed EC chairman Datuk Seri Hashim Abdullah would consider the suggestion to give all candidates an "even playing field" before polling date. She said Sarawak could not be compared to the states in the peninsula which was more advanced in terms of communications.
The EC has 60 days to conduct the election once the assembly is dissolved.
The state assembly would automatically dissolve on June 20, the fifth anniversary of the first sitting, and elections must be held on or before August 19.
Maria also suggested that Hashim allowed Sarawakians working in the peninsula to cast their ballots as absentee voters.
"They can exercise their democratic rights without having to return to their constituencies to vote," she added.
Maria said this move would help those working in the peninsula save time and money in order to be physically present at polling stations. – February 1, 2016.
Source from The Malaysian Insider
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